La ragazza dell'ultimo spettacolo

In a quest for ratings, the producer (Don Murray) of an early morning TV talk show heads to L.A. to find out whatever became of a half-forgotten movie queen and inadvertently sets off a string of killings...

Confusing TV murder mystery set in Hollywood with voice-over narration, nubile females, and even a detective's trench-coat for Don (why didn't he just call COLUMBO?). Veteran actors Gloria Grahame, John Ireland, Van Johnson, Yvonne Decarlo, Ralph Meeker, Cameron Mitchell, and "special guest star" Walter Pidgeon pop up in small roles. Grahame was probably the titular mystery woman because the makers, Columbia Pictures, could use clips from old movies Gloria made at that studio free of charge.

I've come to enjoy the rhythmic narrative flow of these TV movies (the action regularly builds to a crescendo with a quick fade-to-black where commercials were inserted) and I also love the credits that invariably include "guest stars" galore and at least one "special guest star". I'm looking forward to tracking down more.